Battle of Hiesville

The Battle of Hiesville occurred on 6 June 1944 during Operation Overlord in World War II. The US 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, which had already landed in Normandy in the morning hours of 6 June, was sent to destroy the German field poles (nicknamed "Rommel's Asparagus") which had been erected in farm fields to make glider landing impossible. Sergeant Greg Hassay's platoon was supposed to link up with other squads in Vierville, but his unit had to assist the glider landings before they could move out. The American paratroops launched assaults across wide farm fields to neutralize German machine-gun positions in order to clear the area of resistance; the Americans used flanking maneuvers to bypass the guns and eliminate them. Sergeant Matthew Baker succeeded in destroying the field poles with satchel charges, and the Americans also destroyed the German anti-aircraft guns with satchel charges, enabling American glider-borne infantry to arrive in the fields and reinforce the units sent to capture Vierville. The battle at Hiesville secured a conduit of reinforcements for the Americans, who then assaulted Vierville.